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Archive 10 January 2004 - December 2004 Note: These articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the Management, Staff and Employees of Mango's. |
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News and Info Current | 1/06 - Current |
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News and Info Archive 11 | 12/04 - 12/05 |
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News and Info Archive 10 | 1/04 - 12/04 |
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News and Info Archive 9 | 7/03 - 12/03 | |
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News and Info Archive 8 | 1/03 - 6/03 |
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News and Info Archive 7 | 8/02 - 1/03 | |
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News and Info Archive 6 | 3/02 - 7/02 |
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News and Info Archive 5 | 3/02 - 2/02 | |
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News and Info Archive 4 | 1/02 - 11/01 |
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News and Info Archive 3 | 11/01 - 7/01 | |
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News and Info Archive 2 | 3/01 - 2/00 |
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News and Info Archive 1 | - 1999 |
Imelda Power
Straits Times Interactive (http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg)
By Ong Sor Fern
FILM-MAKER Ramona S. Diaz spent a month trailing Imelda Marcos, the former First Lady of the Philippines, with a camera crew in 1998. The result is a telling portrait of megalomania which won Diaz a nomination for the coveted Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year.
Imelda, which opens here on Sunday, also won the Best Cinematography Award. For the genial 42-year-old film-maker, Imelda is the culmination of more than five years of research and work. The project began with a chance encounter with Mrs Marcos. Over the telephone from Baltimore in the United States where she is based, Diaz says that she first interviewed Mrs Marcos for her first feature project, Spirits Rising, in 1993.
That documentary looked at the role played by middle-class Filipino women in the People Power uprising which unseated President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. 'I just thought she's a big historical figure. For better or for worse, she's the best known Filipino in the world,' says Diaz. After the interview, she asked Mrs Marcos if she would consent to being the subject of a film. She agreed. But it took Diaz a while to raise funding for the feature.
'I first approached her with the idea in 1993 and we had the first pre-production interview in 1996. The bulk of the film was shot in 1998, when we followed Mrs Marcos to her hometown of Tacloban,' Diaz recalls. 'To her credit, she honoured her agreement even after all that time.' For the film-maker, the project was a chance to try to explore the person behind the persona.
'I wanted her to defend herself. Everything we brought up I wanted her to be able to address. Which is what I told her when I pitched the film. It's not a valentine to her but it will be fair. 'It's not a hit-and-run piece. I truly, truly believe it was fair.' The amount of time she spent with Mrs Marcos explains how she managed to get her famous subject to talk about everything - from the assassination of opposition leader Benigno 'Ninoy' Aquino to the imposition of martial law in the Philippines.
But while Mrs Marcos may have cooperated with lengthy interviews during the shoot, she also later tried to have the movie banned. In June, when the movie was scheduled for a theatrical release in the Philippines, she served papers on the film's distributor, Unitel. She testified, weeping, in court that the movie made her out to be a 'cheap flirt' and an 'airhead, like a frivolous, wanton, extravagant woman at the expense of the poor'.
Diaz, who had to return to the Philippines to testify at the trial, says that Mrs Marcos' suit came from out of the blue. 'I was really surprised,' she says. Mrs Marcos gained a temporary injunction, which was overturned 20 days later. Once released, Imelda stampeded past Hollywood blockbusters like Spider-Man 2 and I, Robot in its opening weekend. It has since grossed over 14 million pesos (S$423,770) at the box office. It is the only documentary to be released theatrically in the Philippines.
While Mrs Marcos herself has become a figure of ridicule in the Filipino press, she still touches a raw nerve with the Filipino people, many of whom either adore her passionately or loathe her with a vengeance. As expected, her film has earned deeply divisive responses from Filipinos who have seen it. Says Diaz: 'They either say, 'You make her look so good', or 'You made her look so bad'. They love it or they hate it. There is no in-between.'
Making the film has made her appreciate the complexities of the woman who once wielded so much power as the wife of the Philippines' strongman. 'She's funny. She has a sense of humour which surprised me,' the film-maker says. 'People take issue when I say she's funny. But she can be funny and still be held accountable for the things she did.'
A LIFE IN FILM
DIAZ grew up in the Philippines under martial law, and left the country when she was 17 to pursue a degree in film and photography at Boston's Emerson College. She gained work experience in television after graduating, including a five-year stint on the hit 1980s television series, Remington Steele. Film-making was something she had wanted to do for as long as she could remember, she says. She is married to a half-Chinese, half-Nepalese professor who teaches communications. 'He has the adult job,' she says with a laugh.
Although she spends most of her time in the US, where her seven-year-old daughter is growing up, she has returned to the Philippines occasionally to live and work. The longest stay was after her stint on Remington Steele in the 1980s. 'It was just after the Marcos regime had fallen. People were so hopeful,' she recalls wistfully. 'I went back to the Philippines thinking I was going to live there for a few months. I ended up staying four years.' But she packed her bags once more to take on a postgraduate documentary filmmaking course at Stanford University. Spirits Rising, which led her to that momentous meeting with Mrs Marcos, was made as part of her master's thesis.
After spending so much time with the iron butterfly, she admits that her views of Mrs Marcos have changed. 'I thought she was crazy, going into the project. But she's much smarter than she lets on. She could not have gotten that far without really being aware of politics and the games that people play. She's very good at that,' she says. 'It's been said that she's a product of the president. I no longer believe that. From the very beginning, she was a very empowered woman. If she had not met the president at that age, she would have become something in her own right. 'She understands power intuitively. Her power at that age was her beauty and she knew it.'
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Fil-Am soldier
killed in Iraq buried in Clark
Saturday, November 20, 2004
By Chris Navarro
CLARK ECOZONE -- Teary-eyed and clinching the American flag, Amelia Fortune, wife of the late US Army Sgt. Maurice Keith Fortune, watched silently as her husband's coffin was lowered in a plot at a cemetery in this economic zone Friday. Maurice, who served for the 2nd Infantry Division (2ID), was killed in a car bombing in Ar Ramadi, Iraq last October 29. The US Government provided full military burial honors for the Filipino-American soldier and posthumously awarded him the fourth highest U.S. military award-the Bronze Star--for gallantry in action.
The US Army also awarded Maurice the Purple Heart, Army Commendation and Good Conduct medal during Friday's burial honor rites at the Clark Field Cemetery at the former US-run Clark Air Base in Angeles city, 80 kilometers north of Manila. His weeping wife, mother and another relative clutched folded US flags as his coffin was lowered to the ground. Other family members clasped portraits of Fortune in his army uniform, while his Filipino friends said goodbye with a streamer that read: "Maurice we will miss you."
Soldiers played "Taps," served as pallbearers and gave a 21-gun salute. Brig. Gen. Oscar Anderson, assistant division commander of the US Army's 1st Armored Division, a funeral honor guard from the 2nd ID, U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone, Philippine Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr., and members of Fortune's army division attended. Only 25 years old, Maurice was born in the US and was raised in Angeles City. He was enlisted in the US Army in January 2001 after completing two years of college at the Angeles University Foundation.
Maurice is survived by his wife, his one-year-old daughter Moesha, two stepchildren, his father, retired US Airman Littleton John Fortune and mother Nida Fortune, all of Angeles City. "My hope died. He is gone," his mother told reporters, her face streaked with tears. Maurice's father said he is proud of his son for serving and giving up his life for his country. US Navy Capt. Dennis Williams said people should respect the wishes of the family to maintain dignity, solemnity and peace of mind during this especially difficult time. "We ask that media covering this event refrain from seeking interviews with the family members," Williams said. (With AP)
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Filipinos die
in pay dispute with former president
By Daniel Howden
18 November 2004
Eight people, including a three-month-old baby, were killed in violent clashes between Philippines police and workers demanding a 50p daily wage rise at a sugar cane plantation belonging to Corazon Aquino, a former president. Several people died of gunshot wounds after heavily armed security forces attempted to break up a 6,000-strong picket of a sugar mill on the island of Luzon in the northern Tarlac province.
The bloody aftermath of Tuesday's clashes, including the death of the baby who suffocated after clouds of teargas drifted into her village, prompted the chief of police in Manila to sack two senior commanders and order an impartial investigation. The baby's father was among the dead workers.
Army officials confirmed the deaths of three protesters but the local mayor, Genaro Mendoza, said that in addition to the dead infant, at least seven had been shot and killed, while 58 were injured and 100 arrested. "Those who were holding weapons must have their fire-arms examined to determine who fired," Mr Mendoza said. The fatalities, following a fortnight of strikes by farmers and workers angry at low pay and the failure to implement land redistribution laws, have stirred up widespread resentment at deep social inequalities that persist in the Philippines nearly two decades after the demise of the Marcos regime.
A small number of families still control huge tracts of land despite reforms to extend ownership to tenant farmers. Massive plantations, including the 6,000-hectare (15,000-acre) Hacienda Luisita, the scene of this week's incident, were supposed to have been phased out by land reform laws passed under Mrs Aquino's administration in 1988. Some landowners have been able to exploit loopholes in the legislation to retain control of their property.
Satur Ocampo, a congressman with the left-wing Bayan Muna Party, said discontent had been simmering for years after farmers rejected an offer of stocks in lieu of land ownership and demanded full reform. The perception of inequality in rural areas has helped fuel a nationwide communist rebellion that analysts say is likely to remain strong while graft and poverty are major problems.
Mrs Aquino, who served as president between 1986 and 1992, remains a popular figure. She rose to power in the wake of the assassination of Benigno Aquino, her husband and opposition leader in exile. He was gunned down in 1983 as he stepped off the plane returning him from exile. Public outrage at the killing led to the overthrow of the dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, and the restoration of democracy, with Benigno Aquino's widow, Corazon, spearheading an anti-corruption campaign.
Mrs Aquino said in a statement: "[Everyone] should desist from employing acts of violence and provocation that would only worsen an already tense situation. I have always been an advocate of non-violence, and I deeply regret that people had to get hurt on both sides. Moreover, the conflict has paralysed economic activity both in the farm and the sugar mill, affecting the lives of thousands." According to witnesses, private guards have joined police officers to patrol inside the mill, with strikers promising to return. "We will be back," said Odie Villoso, a worker at the mill for 24 years. Left-wing parties have called for the resignation of the Labour Secretary, Patricia Santo Tomas, who issued orders to police to disperse the strikers.
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OFWs' billions fail to
improve life of poor--study
Posted: 11:26 AM | Nov. 15, 2004
Cecil Morella
Agence France-Presse
THEY sail the world's oceans, mop the floors of the rising Asian middle class and launder clothes for US troops fighting in Iraq. Yet while providing a massive boost to the consumption-led economic growth in the Philippines, the billions of dollars that millions of overseas Filipinos send home do little to ease long-term poverty in the country, according to an Asian Development Bank study.
The money that workers and emigrants send home each year is spent putting sons, daughters, nieces and nephews through school, while the rest is blown on food and village fiestas as well as ill-advised small-business ventures that usually fail, according to the study. Manila has failed to "leverage" the remittances, estimated at between 7.6 billion dollars to double that figure every year, to promote development initiatives, it added.
With nearly a million of its citizens leaving every year, the Philippines is the world's second largest migrant-sending country after Mexico, and the third largest remittance-receiving country after Mexico and India. The labor export program, launched by president Ferdinand Marcos during the Mideast oil boom in the 1970s, now sees 7.6 million out of a population of 84 million living or working abroad. They include more than a quarter-million seafarers, though more than 65 percent of those who left the country are women.
The modern-day diaspora to most of the world includes about 6,000 working for US contractors in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of maids in Asia and the Middle East, and nurses in western countries. There are 3.33 million permanent Filipino residents, temporary workers or illegals in North America, who remitted more than half of the 7.64 billion dollars officially listed as sent to the Philippines in 2003. Total remittance flows are expected to reach or exceed 8.1 billion dollars this year, central bank governor Rafael Buenaventura said last month.
The money accounts for 16 percent of current account receipts -- and is equal to 11 percent of the gross domestic product -- of a country where half the population lives on two dollars a day. "With formal flows at the level of seven billion dollars yearly, and actual flows estimated at double that figure, there is a tremendous potential for harnessing these remittance flows for more productive use and as a tool for poverty reduction," the study said.
Since two out of three of the overseas Filipinos came from rural areas, it would be logical for local governments to package bonds and offer them as savings or investment vehicles to their residents abroad, the study said. Proceeds could fund local infrastructure projects. It cited the experience of banks in Turkey, Peru, El Salvador and Mexico, which have tapped the investment market for amounts ranging from 100-300 million dollars through securitization of overseas workers' remittances.
Manila's challenge "lies in addressing the various regulatory and practical barriers and gaps" to tapping these fund flows for development, the study said. Obstacles include the high licensing costs and restrictive regulations for Philippine banks and remittance agents, limited financial products available in financial institutions in rural areas, and lack of "financial literacy" of migrants and family members.
The study, believed to be the first of its kind in the Philippines, cited "extensive anecdotal evidence suggesting considerable spending for non-essentials and luxuries" by recipient families. "Relatives who neither have the proper business attitude or appreciation for the hard-earned income, are asked to manage small enterprises which eventually fail." At the end of their temporary contracts, many workers experience severe economic reintegration problems and "any savings they may have brought home are easily exhausted" -- especially if they cannot find a new job.
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Train Wreck
Kills 13
November 13, 2004
At least 13 people were killed and about 160
injured when a speeding train derailed on a bad section of track and tumbled
down a ravine in Quezon province before dawn yesterday, officials said.
The Manila-bound Philippine National Railways (PNR) train with about 400
passengers came off the rails near the town of Padre Burgos, 130 kilometers
southeast of Manila, at about 2:30 a.m., the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said.
Officials speculated that the curved track where the accident occurred — site of
a derailment two months ago — had been weakened by looters scavenging rail ties
and metal pieces for scrap, a common practice in the country.
Mosque in a
mall
Plans for the Philippines' first such mosque reflects the growing coexistence of
Muslims and Catholics
By Luz Baguioro
MANILA - A swanky Manila shopping complex will soon have an extra attraction - not a flashy new store, but a mosque. A Muslim prayer area is being built at this Manila mall. The development reflects the Muslim minority's growing integration with the dominant Catholic population. Real estate firm Ortigas and Co, which owns and operates the 16ha Greenhills Shopping Centre in San Juan district, hopes to finish the 500 sq m 'prayer area' in time for this year's Aidilfitri celebrations on Nov 14.
'By building this prayer area, we hope to give our Muslim brothers a solemn place of worship,' said Mr Rex Drilon, chief operating officer of Ortigas and Co. In 1990, Greenhills became the first mall to open its doors to Muslim traders. Although most malls in the Philippines now allow priests and pastors to hold religious services, the planned mosque is the first to be part of a shopping centre.
About 500 of Greenhills' 2,000 merchants are Maranaos, one of the largest Islamic groups in the country. The new mosque means Muslim merchants in Greenhills, which built a 400 sq m Catholic chapel last year, will no longer have to pray along one of the mall's narrow hallways. 'Their prayer times sometimes coincide with the Catholic service held on the opposite end of the hallway,' said Mr Drilon. The Muslims thus often spilled over onto the sidewalk, he said.
Costing an estimated 10 million pesos (S$300,000), the fully air-conditioned mosque, which will include an ablution area, will accommodate up to 400 people in its prayer hall. However, because of space constraints, it will not have a dome and will be part of a four-storey building also housing a halal restaurant, boutiques and parking spaces.
'This is another manifestation of the close integration between Muslims and the Catholic majority in the country,' said Mr Julkipli Wadi, professor of Islamic studies at the state-run University of the Philippines. 'It is another positive effort to promote harmony.' Because of complaints of discrimination and state neglect, more and more Muslims have been appointed to government posts in recent years. Limited self-rule was also granted to five provinces in the southern Philippines, where the bulk of the six million Muslim minority live.
But what is perhaps a major sign of growing integration is the fact that many Muslims now live in urban areas predominantly populated by Catholics. They used to be concentrated in the backwater region of Mindanao. Muslims are now also among the most active merchants in the capital. But despite the coexistence of Catholics and Muslims, experts say problems remain.
Cultural stereotypes still make it hard for Muslims to get jobs in Manila, forcing many to change their names. And the police often raid Muslim communities, suspecting them of being havens for terrorists and other criminals. A recent survey showed that a significant number of Muslims preferred to be called 'Moro' rather than 'Filipino'. Said Prof Wadi: 'It shows that the separatist sentiment is still very strong. Many Muslims still believe they should have their own national identity and their own government.'
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Gold in the
Slums
November 1, 2004
Hundreds of people have flocked to a creek in an overcrowded squatters' area in Barangay Del Monte in Quezon City after some residents found gold nuggets, witnesses said yesterday. A barangay captain said it was a puzzle as to how the nuggets got into the trash-strewn and heavily silted channel.
"It is a puzzle. All we got from this before was trash," he said. Alfredo Gallo, 15, found a "nugget" of gold after scouring the waterway under the bridge near Feliz street in West Riverside on Friday. His father sold the gold to a pawnshop for P30,000 and bought a television set and a bicycle.
"I scratched the riverbed with a stick and saw a yellow thing glittering. I immediately took it and ran home," Gallo said. The channel frequently overflows during the rainy season, flooding low-lying slums and causing intestinal diseases. Witnesses claimed a mining truck was dumping sand in the area last Monday. Construction worker Danilo Sabas, meanwhile, drove from the other side of Manila and took off from work to pan for gold in the stream as children played and swam nearby.
He used fish nets and steel pans and ploughed the waterbed before finding a small piece of metal which he believed was gold. He showed it to photographers and said he would take it to a pawnbroker later in the day. "I will sell this immediately," he said. As of yesterday, no other prospector have been as lucky.
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US monitoring military aid to Philippines amid corruption scandal
MANILA (AFP) Oct 28, 2004
The United States said Thursday it was monitoring hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance to the Philippines amid a corruption scandal involving a Filipino general. The US embassy ensures that all military articles and services provided by Washington "are utilized for their intended purpose and are not transferred to a third party or disposed of without Department of State approval," the US embassy said.
Through its joint US military assistance group, the mission works with the Filipino military "to ensure accountability, including an annual inventory requirement" by the Filipino armed forces, it said in a statement. A joint inventory was completed this month on all equipment provided over the past three years to a Filipino "light reaction company" which was trained and equipped by Washington to help Manila fight armed Islamic militants in the south.
The equipment includes 667 pieces of "third-generation night vision devices". Early this year, the US government tipped off its Southeast Asian military ally over the activities of a Filipino general who allegedly brought into the United States nearly 700,000 dollars in cash over the past 10 years while earning an annual salary of about 7,200 dollars.
The tip-off led to the sacking of then military comptroller Major-General Carlos Garcia, who was placed under house arrest this month ahead of his expected court-martial for unbecoming conduct. The evidence provided by Washington is now the basis of a separate graft inquiry by the government Ombudsman, which could lead to criminal charges being laid against the general.
The embassy did not say if any of the US military aid to Manila had been diverted, but noted that under an enhanced monitoring system for sensitive defense articles, the Filipino military "is required to provide adequate security for these items and report any loss immediately." The embassy said US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone had praised President Gloria Arroyo's "forceful expressions of commitment to root out corruption within the military and other institutions of government."
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Military scandal
raises coup fears in Philippines
AFP , MANILA
Wednesday, Oct 27, 2004
The Philippine military went on full alert yesterday against possible attempts to destabilize President Gloria Arroyo amid a widening corruption scandal in the armed forces. A military spokesman said troops were placed on 24-hour standby with all leave canceled because of fears of communist guerrilla attacks, after exiled rebel leaders called for "widespread dissent" against the government.
The Communist Party of the Philippines called for Arroyo's removal through "a popular uprising, a civil disobedience movement, a mass withdrawal of support by political parties and personages, a voluntary resignation of Arroyo, a coup d'etat or any combination thereof". At least three officers led by Major General Carlos Garcia, the former military comptroller, face possible court-martial for corruption for having unexplained wealth.
The probe was triggered by a tip-off from the US government early this year that Garcia and members of his family had brought nearly US$1 million to the US over 10 years while he was earning about US$7,200 a year. The Philippines suffered numerous coup attempts in the late 1980s.
Arroyo survived a military revolt last year after taking power in a military-backed popular revolt that ousted president Joseph Estrada in January 2001. She has ordered the military to launch a court-martial against Garcia by Friday. On Monday she said the scandal might provoke attempts to destabilize her government by entities other than guerrillas.
"I will deal with these destabilizers with an iron fist, even as I hold out an open hand and open mind for those who are open to a just and dignified reconciliation," she added. The armed forces have "increased the troops' alert status to Red Alert effective 8:00 am today," military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Lucero said in a statement.
"This is to prepare the troops in the light of possible heightened attacks by the communist terrorists," the statement said.
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Philippine Ferry Blast
Said Caused by Bomb
October 11, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- A bomb planted by the brutal Abu Sayyaf group caused a ferry fire in February that killed over 100 people in the Philippines' worst terrorist attack, an investigation concluded Monday. President Gloria Macapagal, who initially downplayed a claim of responsibility by the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf, said six people, including two arrested shortly after the attack, have been charged.
"These are the same people responsible for the Dos Palmas kidnapping,'' she said, referring to a mass abduction from the Dos Palmas resort on Palawan island in 2001 that left several hostages dead. She said the men in custody made and planted the bomb, and that one beheaded Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif., early in the yearlong hostage crisis. Missionary Martin Burnham of Wichita, Kan. also died during a rescue mission that freed his wife, Gracia.
"I am now instructing the police and the military to intensify the manhunt for the two masterminds -- Khaddafy Janjalani and Abu Sulaiman -- and their two other accomplices,'' Arroyo told a news conference. Sulaiman was the target of an unsuccessful U.S.-backed operation two weeks ago aimed at capturing or killing him, his son and other Abu Sayyaf members. He and Janjalani, the group's main leader, already had $5 million bounties on their heads.
The al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf, which is on Washington's list of international terror groups, claimed responsibility immediately after the Feb. 27 fire aboard the Superferry 14, saying it planted a bomb inside a television set that one of its members carried aboard. A blast and fire struck the ferry, carrying about 900 people, an hour after it left Manila for the central and southern Philippines. The official report said the bodies of 63 people were recovered and that 53 others are missing and believed dead.
The overall presumed death toll of 116 would make it Southeast Asia's second-worst terror attack after the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people on the Indonesian resort island. Transport Secretary Leandro Mendoza said investigators believe the Superferry 14 was targeted because owners WG&A had not complied with an Abu Sayyaf letter last year demanding protection money.
A preliminary investigation had indicated two possible causes -- a bomb or a gas explosion. Mendoza said the investigation dragged on so long because it took five months to right the ferry, which ended up lying on its side in shallow water, and investigators then encountered a tangle of twisted metal that supported the conclusion that a bomb caused the disaster.
In March, Arroyo announced the arrests of six Abu Sayyaf members, including one who allegedly confessed to planting the bomb, and the discovery of a cache of explosives that police said was to be used to bomb malls, trains, an oil depot, foreign embassies and other targets in Manila. Security officials have said Redendo Cain Dellosa confessed after his arrest that he stashed about 8 pounds of TNT in a TV set that he carried onto the ferry. Dellosa later claimed he was tortured into signing a confession.
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Subic Golf
Course
October 1, 2004
The original golf course on Subic Naval Base was designed by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 50's. It was not real imaginative but fairly easy and fun to play. In 1994 a Taiwan group got the lease to the course. They brought in two young British blokes who did a professional job of redesigning the course. They radically changed it getting rid of holes, altering others, adding lakes, canals, and lots of bunkers. White sand was brought in from Boracay Island for this purpose.
From the air it is obvious what it was meant to be. They had a signboard at the t-box depicting the hole and people liked having their picture taken with it. Unfortunately, it was also stolen every other week. Subic Bay. - Tom
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Ladies Drinks
OK?
Troops May Be Tried for Using Prostitutes Pentagon Wants to Make It a
Court-Martial Offense for Troops to Use Prostitutes
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON Sept. 21, 2004
U.S. troops stationed overseas could face courts-martial for patronizing prostitutes under a new regulation drafted by the Pentagon. The move is part of a Defense Department effort to lessen the possibility that troops will contribute to human trafficking in areas near their overseas bases by seeking the services of women forced into prostitution.
In recent years, "women and girls are being forced into prostitution for a clientele consisting largely of military services members, government contractors and international peacekeepers" in places like South Korea and the Balkans, Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., said Tuesday at a Capitol Hill forum on Pentagon anti-trafficking efforts. Defense officials have drafted an amendment to the manual on courts-martial that would make it an offense for U.S. troops to use the services of prostitutes, said Charles Abell, a Pentagon undersecretary for personnel and readiness.
If approved, that would make it a military offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to have contact with a prostitute, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, an Abell spokeswoman said later. The draft rule is open to 60 days public comment after being published in the Federal Register, she said. Officials also are developing a training program for troops and contractors, to be distributed in November. The program will explain trafficking, department policy on it and possible legal action against violators, Abell said in a written statement.
Additionally, the military is reviewing regulations and procedures for placing off-limits those businesses where such activities take place and working with Justice Department officials to tighten rules on contractor misconduct. Gen. Leon J. LaPorte, commander of the 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea, said another initiative started on the peninsula has been to "make on-base military life a more desirable experience, and attempt to diminish the seductive appeal of many of the less wholesome off-duty pursuits."
That effort includes offering expanded evening and weekend education programs, band concerts, late-night sports leagues and expanded chaplains' activities. All new arrivals to duty in Korea are given prostitution and human trafficking awareness and the military is working with Korean law enforcement agencies, he said.
"In spite of all these efforts, we know that there are still some U.S. service members, Department of Defense civilians and contractor personnel who may continue to contact prostitutes and, thereby, be construed as supporting human trafficking," LaPorte said.
NATO officials in July outlined new guidelines adopted to ensure alliance peacekeepers do not encourage sex trafficking gangs by seeking the services of women forced into prostitution. The rules follows accusations from human rights groups that NATO peacekeepers and civilian staff working for international organizations had fueled the growth of sexual slavery in the Balkans.
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Atienza orders cops
to pursue raps vs starlets
The Philippine Star
09/18/2004
Manila Mayor Lito Atienza ordered the Western Police District (WPD) yesterday to aggressively pursue the indecent exposure and alarm and scandal charges against nine starlets arrested the other day at the Plaza Rajah Sulayman and at the Baywalk.
An angry Atienza said what the starlets did was not only illegal, but also unforgivable because "it undermines the positive image of Manila that the city government was able to establish over the past six years." "The city government will never tolerate such vulgar acts. We did not redevelop Rajah Sulayman Park and establish the Roxas Boulevard Baywalk as wholesome family destinations, just so these could be used for staging lewd publicity stunts," the mayor said.
Atienza said the prosecution of the starlets should teach them not to put Manila's image in a bad light and undermine the positive changes that have been achieved through the city government's urban renewal and development program. "We are not at all amused and we are certain that those who participated would learn the hard way that it does not pay to stage indecent publicity stunts in Manila. Let this also be a notice to those who might be contemplating of doing the same," Atienza warned.
He also ordered the City Legal Office to study possible sanctions that could be imposed on Waterplus Productions, the production outfit that applied for and was granted a permit by the Manila Business Promotions and Development Office to hold a pictorial in certain areas of the city. "The permit issued by the city government was for a pictorial, not a lewd exhibition that is in violation of the law. The incident yesterday rendered their permit null and void and we are studying possible sanctions against Waterplus. This should teach them not to treat authorities in such a cavalier manner," Atienza pointed out.
Plaza Rajah Sulayman and the Roxas Boulevard, aside from being favorite recreation spots, have also become a preferred venue for pictorials and shootings, with the city government receiving several applications a day for permission to hold pictorials and shootings. However, the permits issued does not sanction illegal acts. The exhibition at Plaza Rajah Sulayman and Roxas Boulevard Baywalk attracted a crowd and tied up traffic along Roxas Boulevard and caught the attention of traffic policemen.
Cops rushed to the scene and arrested the nine starlets who were posing in various states of undress. The photographs and video footage taken of the starlets while baring their bodies in public will be used as evidence in prosecuting the cases filed against them.
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SBMA creates 4,000 jobs in 7
months
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT
The country's premier Freeport Zone continues to manifest robust economic progress by creating more employment opportunities, thereby generating 4,000 jobs within the first seven months of the year. Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman Felicito C. Payumo disclosed that the figure rose from 51,486 in December last year to 55,421 up to July this year.
"We attribute this rise in employment figure to the growing number of investors who continue to express confidence in the potentials of the Freeport and generate job opportunities to residents of neighboring communities," Payumo said.
SBMA Labor Department manager Severo Pastor said workers were hired by various companies here through his office and the series of job fairs they conduct to include employees of SBMA and its subsidiary, the Freeport Service Corporation (FSC) an overall number of employees of 60,421 from 7,756 in 1998 when Payumo took office as SBMA chairman and administrator six years ago. Pastor added that in March alone, they have recorded the highest employment figure of 1,109 among seven months of both comparative years.
According to the report, Wistron Infocomm Phils., a subsidiary of Acer computers, remains to be the biggest single employer in the Freeport with more than 3,800 workers, as the manufacturing sector remains on top among other investors here in creating jobs. During the period, the SBMA also posted $454 million in export value brought about by strong production output in manufacturing sector with Wistron topping the list of exporters as it posted high export value of $319.7 million, which takes up 70 percent of the total export earnings.
Recently, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) reported that job opportunities have already been created through series of job fairs conducted in Northern and Central Luzon since June 2001 as part of outreach program to open employment opportunities in the region. "It is our task to help alleviate poverty in Central Luzon. This is why we reach out to provide jobs that various companies here open by facilitating a series of job fairs and making it convenient for applicants to land themselves the much needed jobs," Pastor added.
Payumo meanwhile stressed that the SBMA will continue to strive hard to make the Subic Freeport remain as an attractive investment site for local and foreign businesses that continue to generate jobs. He also assured that more jobs will be created with the ongoing construction of the Waterfront row for the Moonbay Marina, the forthcoming facelift of the Ship Repair Facility (SRF) into a world class cruise ship destination and the two flagship projects of the Arroyo administration, the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and the Subic Port Development project.
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RP now 12th most populous
country
By Jose Katigbak
STAR Washington Bureau
The Philippine
Star 08/19/2004
WASHINGTON — The Philippines has gone one more step up the world population ladder and is now ranked as the 12th most populated country in the world, the Washington-based Population Reference Bureau (PRB) said. But the good news, to some extent, is that the Philippines is seen to maintain its 12th-place ranking until 2050, according to latest statistics released on Tuesday by the PRB, a non-profit, non-advocacy organization founded in 1929 to monitor population trends.
A predominantly Catholic country, the Philippines has a population currently estimated at 83.7 million. This is expected to grow to 118.4 million by 2025 and to 147.3 million by 2050. The total world population now standing at 6.396 billion is projected to increase to 7.934 billion by 2025 and to 9.276 billion by 2050. In the past three years the Philippines has been advancing inexorably up the population ladder — it was in 14th place in 2002 and 13th in 2003. And all signs indicate the population will continue to grow before it stabilizes.
Despite the Arroyo administration’s apathy towards family planning, PRB senior demographer Carl Haub told The STAR there were signs the country’s fertility rate was slowly declining. He said the number of married women between 15 and 49 using all forms of contraception has risen marginally to 49 percent. The number of women using modern contraceptive methods is up 33 percent. "I think the desire to have fewer children is absolutely there in the Philippines. Couples who want to practice family planning do it irrespective of what the Church says," Haub said.
He pointed to Catholic countries like Portugal, Spain, Italy and Poland whose birth rates are on the decline despite the clergy’s admonitions to the faithful to refrain from using contraceptives disallowed by the church. Haub said a consequence of the increasing number of Filipinos going overseas in search of work is the tendency over the long haul to slow population growth. The flight of Filipinos overseas has an interesting demographic effect at home because most of those who leave tend to be of child-bearing age, he said.
Going abroad means more than keeping the remittances coming, but keeping the country’s fast rising birth rate at bay. Haub said the PRB’s latest statistics demonstrate that nearly 99 percent of all population increase takes place in poor countries, while population size is static or declining in rich nations. Among the major industrialized nations, only the United States has significant population growth due primarily to immigration intakes and the higher fertility rates of Hispanic immigrants. By 2050, industrialized countries are projected to increase their population by merely four percent.
In contrast, the population of developing countries is expected to expand by 55 percent. The Church wields considerable influence on policy issues in the Philippines and campaigns against officials who promote artificial contraception. But this has not stopped lawmakers from filing a bill in the House which proposes two children per family in an attempt to control the high birth rates in the country, estimated at 2.36 percent annually, or 1.7 million new births every year. Careful not to lock horns with the Church, Mrs. Arroyo has safely distanced herself from the issue of managing the rising population.
The President has said population explosion is not her foremost concern, calling on Congress instead to first tackle priority bills she had itemized in her five-point legislative package. The five-point proposals are job creation and economic growth; anti-corruption and good governance; social justice and basic needs (pro-poor program); education improvement and youth opportunity, and energy independence and savings. A devout Catholic, Mrs. Arroyo however expressed readiness to defend her staunch pro-life policy even as she said she is open to debates on the subject.
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Two British navy ships with 316
personnel on board arrived yesterday at this former US naval base for joint
exercises with their Filipino counterparts.
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT
08/10/2004
The HMS Exeter (D89) and RFA Grey Hover are on four-day goodwill visit as part of its global deployment program, port officials said. In a press briefing, commanding officer Andrew Reed said the Royal Navy will conduct joint naval training and exercises to include "warfare and technical advices" with the Philippine Navy and their other allies in the Asia-Pacific rim.
He said their naval ships will demonstrate the Royal Navy’s ability to operate worldwide and the United Kingdom’s continuing commitment to help the region. The British navy will also hold outreach programs in local communities in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and the Olongapo City government.
Navy Capt. Ernesto Bonifacio, officer-in-charge of the Philippine naval force in northern Luzon, said Filipino navy personnel will be given the opportunity to take part in various "hands-on" training programs aboard the modern and fully equipped British ships. SBMA chairman Felicito Payumo welcomed the arrival of the two British ships.
SBMA was turned into a freeport and economic zone after the Philippine Senate voted against extending the RP-US Military Bases Treaty in 1991. "Subic Freeport is no longer a military base but a freeport zone and a sign of friendship. The SBMA welcomes the arrival of the British ships," said Payumo, who is set to attend the cocktail party aboard HMS Exeter tonight. The UK has declared the Philippines, among several other countries, as a "Security Level 2" area for its naval ships.
This means heightened security and increased monitoring will be implemented while the British ships are docked, and additional security personnel will be deployed aboard the ships and in the immediate surroundings of the base. Local police forces have also been deployed to provide security for the visiting British navy personnel.
Meanwhile, owners of entertainment establishments in Olongapo City and Subic in Zambales were thankful that British navy officers allowed "off-base" liberty and rest and recreation for their men.
"We will be offering a wholesome entertainment for our British visitors from live bands to videoke and a taste of Filipino foods," a restaurant owner said. - With AFP
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P18B
expressway promises convenience but costly to motorists
By Chris Navarro
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
CLARK ECOZONE -- The good news: Motorists who will use the new P18-billion North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) will experience convenience and worry-free driving because of the expansion, modernization and rehabilitation done by the Manila North Tollway Corporation (MNTC). The bad news: A 700 percent increase from the usual fee being charged by the Philippine National Construction Corporation. With this increase, the toll, which used cost P0.33 per kilometer will be upped to P2.50 per kilometer. Motorists will have to pay around P190 for the entire stretch of Sta. Ines to Balintawak and vice versa from the previous P22 for Class 1 vehicles. Class 2 vehicles would have to pay some P500.00, while Class 3 vehicles will be charged P600.
This was bared during a recent briefing of officers and members of the Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (Maccii) on the status of the Nlex development at the Fontana Leisure Park at the Clark Special Economic Zone yesterday. The briefing, simultaneous with the chamber's general membership assembly, was conducted by Renato Ticson, marketing director of the MNTC, and Toll Management Corporation president Anthony Mabasa. During the briefing, Ticson said the new rates are "even lower compared to other toll ways, but because of the 84-kilometer stretch of the Nlex, it appears to be higher." Ticson explained that motorists using the new Nlex will be benefited through its "ultra paved-roads for maximum safety and comfort" and through a shorter travel time."
"Travel time is almost half, and with this, there will be considerable savings in vehicle operations as well as maintenance," Ticson said. "To give you an example, I left my office in Manila at around 10 a.m. I arrived here at Clark 11:10 a.m. That's how fast travel time is, which you could now expect from the new Nlex, which has not even been completed yet," he said. Ticson said the Nlex project is one of the 16 strategic infrastructure projects in Region 3 endorsed by the Regional Development Council. It is designed to be a modern, world-class toll way which intends to create a more favorable climate for business in both Central and Northern Luzon, he added.
According to Ticson, the project includes rehabilitation and expansion of existing carriageways, upgrading and construction of interchanges and flyovers, construction of more tollbooths and toll barriers, and installation of fixed operating equipment in all toll plazas. Ticzon said the rehabilitation, expansion and modernization of the NLE involves re-paving of the existing 337 lanes from Balintawak to Sta. Ines and the construction of additional 98 lanes from Balintawak to Sta. Rita, Bulacan. The Nlex expansion is a joint project being undertaken by MNTC, Egis, Leighton Asia, TMC and PNCC. The project is to be completed by November this year.
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Filipino
soldiers running out of English, not ammo
By Julie Alipala Inquirer News Service
Updated 05:29:08 (Mla time) 2004-08-01
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Their supply of guns and bullets may be bottomless, for a change. But there's one thing Filipino soldiers participating in the anti-terror training here are running out of -- English. Filipino and American soldiers have admitted they're finding it hard to communicate with each other because the locals have a limited supply of English. The Filipinos have had to borrow their children's English-Filipino dictionaries so they could find the right words to say to their American counterparts. "If we don't understand, we open the dictionary," Army Cpl. Rasel Mabiskay said in Tagalog.
And even then, they still find their instructors' language difficult to understand in casual conversation. "I often run out of English," Cpl. Novo Medallo said in jest. He said the instruction is not a problem because the Filipinos are familiar with it. But in casual conversation with their trainers, they have to grope for words. "Sometimes, even when we want to converse, we just walk away slowly," Medallo said. Nodding, smiling Sgt. Joselito Doblon has a "very effective" way of dealing with the Americans. He said he just listens and pretends to understand what they're saying by nodding and smiling.
The Americans acknowledge that it is quite difficult for their Filipino counterparts to communicate in English. Maj. William Medina of the US 1st Special Forces Battalion and commander of the Security Assistance Mobile Training Team, however, said they were also doing something to remedy the situation. He said some Filipino-American soldiers were being utilized as interpreters during exercises. Medallo said he was hoping the six-week training in Carmen town in North Cotabato province would give him a broader view of the war against terrorism.
Aside from the thrill of acquiring new knowledge, Medallo admitted he was also amazed by the seemingly endless supply of American ammunition. "We do have the same training like this, but ammunition is (usually) limited. Here we have state-of-the-art rifles and a bottomless source of bullets," Doblon agreed. Medina said the enthusiasm showed by the trainees, even with the language barrier, was good because this could help a lot in improving their skills.
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Subject: Subic Bay Golf Course # 9
August 2004
In the August issue of Maxim Magazine they have an article titled 'Hell Holes'. The sub text reads, "If you're bored of the peace and quiet that usually comes with a round of golf, try teeing it up at the world's most bullet-ridden, bio-hazardous, backward-ass front nine."
They list nine golf courses with descriptions of each. Most are fairly obvious.
1) Kabul Golf Club (Afghanistan)
2) Camp Bonifas (Panmunjom, South Korea) On the DMZ.
3) Hidden Valley (Norco, California) In June 2002, six people were arrested here when hole-in-one hospitality tents allegedly served as makeshift brothels to relieve the tedium of competition.
4) Weequahic Park (Newark, New Jersey) Like the Sopranos? Then you may enjoy a little urban golf in the unofficial asshole of the U.S. which serves as Tony's backyard. Over a six-month period, three bodies were dredged from this park.
5) Royal Colombo (Colombo, Sri Lanka)
6) Orchard Ponds (Erie, Pennsylvania) Mutant gophers make golf fun! So play this dump, former home to leaky drums of industrial waste.
7) Freetown (Freetown, Sierra Leone) Machete attacks and civil war have left many of the caddies here limbless, but still eager to please.
8) Compton (Compton, California) This infamous 'hood is home to 8000 gang members and affordable golf. At $6.50 a round, that's plenty of bang for your buck. And don't sweat the drive-bys. The carts are pretty slow.
9) Subic Bay Country Club (Subic Bay Philippines) You know where you are? You're in the jungle baby. So don't mind the spear-wielding tribes people who live along the course or the adjacent ash-spewing volcano. Wild boars and monkeys wander about--but better them than old bats.
Note: The course referred to was formerly known as Binictican Valley Golf Course. The tribes people are known as Negritos and sell golf balls they have retrieved from the water hazards. Monkeys are common. Wild boars are sometimes seen. (Last year we used a salt-lick, a bright light and shot two on the 14th green at midnight) Snakes were not mentioned in the article but we once had a male caddy kill one and then build a fire and eat it. Caddies are now all female. The jungle surrounding the course is spectacular and provides the solitude and tranquility that makes the course so enjoyable. If they are this wrong about all the courses the one in Kabul might be worth playing.
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Olongapo posts
high rate of illegitimate births
By Recto M. Adamos
Zambales (29 July)
Olongapo City has a higher percentage of children born illegitimate (39%) than the national level figure of 18%. Certificate of live birth records from the National Statistics Office (NSO) show that in 2002, there were 4,507 registered births in Olongapo and out of that number, 1,758 or 39% were illegitimate.
However, unlike in previous years when an illegitimate child could only use the surname of his or her mother, illegitimate children could now follow the surname of their fathers with the signing into law of Republic Act 9255 last February 24. The new law, which took effect March 29, 2004, amended Article 176 of Executive Order No.20 otherwise known as the Family Code of the Philippines.
Parents or guardians of illegitimate children born on or after August 3, 1988 can now apply at the local registry office where the illegitimate children have been registered to have their surnames changed from their mother’s to their father’s.
Applicants must however submit the following documents: admission of paternity or affidavit of acknowledgement and affidavit to use the surname of father (AUSF). Considering the high percentage of illegitimate children born in Olongapo, the local civil registrar’s office has a lot of work to do in the days to come.
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IBON SURVEY SHOWS GMA DIDN'T
WIN POLLS
July 29, 2004
The new government may have been installed but, for majority of Filipinos, not by a credible election. According to the latest IBON survey results, 53.18% of Filipinos believe that the electoral canvassing conducted by Congress was not credible. Of the 1,681 respondents, only 26.95% said it was credible. Asked who they think won the May 10 elections, 43.43% said it was Fernando Poe Jr., while 36.47% answered Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Those uncertain comprised 13.03 percent. Asked who they voted for in the last elections, 32.66% answered they voted for Poe, closely followed by Arroyo (31.05%). However, even those who voted for Arroyo do not believe that the polls were credible. Of the 31.05% who voted for Arroyo, 19.45% think that the results of the elections are questionable.
The July IBON Survey was conducted last June 30 to July 9 to find out the people's perception on the economy, their income and livelihood, government's performance and other pressing issues. The July IBON Survey has a margin of error of plus or minus two percent.
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US settles case of war games
injury
By Inquirer News Service
Updated 20:32:37 (Mla time) 2004-07-28
THE family of the 21-year-old man who was shot accidentally and wounded by an American soldier during military exercises in Basilan has agreed to amicably settle the incident with the payment of a total of P50,000. Amadon Baharon, father of victim Arsid, said he did not want to pursue the filing of a case against the American soldier who wounded his son during target practice in Barangay San Roque on June 21. Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga confirmed that the Baharons decided to resolve the case in the amount of P50,000 as financial assistance, which is "over and above the earlier medical assistance which we have provided from the Southcom (Southern Command) Hospital."
The amount was released to the Baharons last Monday. But Senga did not say who paid for it. "We are not saying that we are blameless here, but we are saying that some people should also be responsible. Whether intentional or not, once you hurt somebody, it is not good," he said. American soldiers in the Joint Special Operation Task Force Philippines (JSOTFP) still refuse to comment on the incident. The joint exercises were kept from the public eye.
Senga said the Light Infantry Battalion training involving two companies of Filipino soldiers started last week inside Camp Arturo Enrile in Barangay Malagutay. The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it was the American troops who paid for the settlement. Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, AFP spokesperson, said the family of Arsid and US officials reached an agreement last July 26 on the claim filed in connection with injuries suffered by Arsid Baharon. Lucero said his information was that the Arsid family received at least P60,000 in total compensation, quoting an amount different from what Senga had quoted. Lucero said the amount included an initial P10,000 when the incident happened and P10,000 in medical bills paid by the Philippine military.
"His injuries were not seen as life threatening and he is expected to make a full recovery within 90 days according to attending physicians," Lucero told reporters. Arsid had been confined at the Camp Navarro General Hospital inside the Armed Forces Southcom Headquarters in Zamboanga City. Last June 21, Arsid and two other bystanders ignored warnings by safety officials during a live-fire exercise taking place at the shooting range. Lucero said that Arsid's group somehow bypassed security personnel and took part in a dangerous game of "dodging the bullets" where they tried to dodge the bullets at that time. Immediately after Arsid was hit, he was promptly taken by Filipino and American medical personnel to the hospital for treatment.
Arsid was released from confinement on July 19 and was described to be in good condition. Lucero said safety measures have been implemented since the incident to prevent further injuries to residents in the area. "The measures include a 30-minute rehearsal or dry run of the security of the range. Warning signs have been posted written both in English and in the local dialect on the outskirts of the range and additional security personnel have been deployed," he said.
